Broken Wings
by Allanna Stone
Summary: When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue misson, they only find one surving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

It was stormy when they found her.

They were told that it was a simple rescue mission; that there were scientists doing cruel experiments on children. The mission was to get the children out and capture the scientists for questioning.

Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, sat in her seat, drumming her fingers against the arm rest, her eyes darting to and fro wildly as she tried to stop her whirling mind. Director Fury had shown the team pictures of children who were unburied from graves in the marshes of Ireland, and the sight of those poor children who would never grow up made her sick to her stomach.

"What kind of cruel, sick monster would do that?" she whispered softly, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, praying that the images would stop flashing in her mind.

"The world is full of cruel, sick monsters, Natasha," answered Clint Barton in a monotone, he too haunted by the disturbing images.

Dr. Bruce Banner was in a corner, readying the medical bay for the survivors that they would (hopefully) rescue while Tony Stark polished his helmet for the umpteenth time while Steve Rogers looked tense and Thor sat tight with a murderous gleen in his eyes.. Finally, the autopilot up front blipped a few times, letting the Avengers know that they've reached their destination.

"We're here," announced Steve in a grim voice, pulling on his mask and standing.

~xoXox~

There were no survivors.

Everyone in the facility had either been shot execution style or committed suicide by poison.

"Good Gods," whispered Thor, coming out of a holding cell, his eyes full of grief.

They all regrouped near the entrance, where they began to tally up bodies they've counted. Once they had an accurate number, Natasha frowned at the digits.

"There should be one more," she muttered before hearing something scuttling from one of the walls led to a hallway.

"I hate giving Fury bad news," muttered Hawkeye, stringing up his bow as he went to check out the pounding heard, with the Hulk and Captain America following closely behind him.

"Find anything?" asked Iron Man when they've regrouped fifteen minutes later.

"No," answered Thor before something made him spin around with his hammer in fight position. He misjudged how much space he ad and accidenlt knocked in a wall, revealing a hiddened room.

"Oops," muttered the Norse god before seeing something that made his heart stop.

It was a young girl, who was chained to the wall, not wearing a stitching of clothing, bloodied and bruised with scars criss crossing her body everywhere. She saw the Avengers and hissed in warning, fighting her bondage with the fire of someone who never given up hope.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you…." soothed Natasha, being the first to snap out of her shock. She approached the girl, who allowed her to break her chains before jumping up onto a ledge and hissing at the team, covering herself with her arms. "Leave," she ordered the men, who did as she asked. "My name is Natasha, what's yours?" The girl remained silent, her eyes watching the redead assassin with suspicion. "I'm not going to hurt you…"

Twenty minutes later, the girl had finally allowed Natasha to get close enough to see her better in the poor light. The girl looked to be in her late teens with a malnutrition body so thin she could count her rib cage and see her backbone, a sunken in face with purple eyes that betrayed her every emotion, and a mane of tangled black curls that looked like they had never been cared for.

"What's your name?" asked Natasha again, this time as the girl shook her head and made a gesture towards her throat. The Russian saw a scar there and it made her blood boil, but she hid it the best she could.

The girl slowly backed off, her purple eyes holding fear as she jumped up back onto the ledge and hid there until Natasha calmed down. Still only then she stayed up on the ledge.

"I'm going to get you something to eat, OK?" Natasha suddenly had an idea, but she wasn't sure that it would work.

"Bruce!" she shouted when she reached the jet. The man came out, dressed in sweatpants and carried a medical bag. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure it will work…"

~xoXox~

Thor carried the unconscious girl towards the carrier, looking straight ahead as he willed himself not to look at the abused girl; he knew that if he did, he would see her painful scars and bruises.

He boarded the carrier and saw Dr. Banner had set up the medical bay and was drawing the sheets back on the bed for the beaten girl to be placed.

"Should I remove my cape?" he asked the doctor quietly, not wanting to wake her up.

"No- you have her cocooned enough so that she can't get out and hurt herself," he answered the Norse God before wheeling her off for an MRI and CAT scan.

Half an hour later, her was holding up the scans in shock and anger as he breathed deeply, forcing himself not to transform into his alter ego.

"What is it, Bruce?" asked Steve, coming up behind him with Natasha, who had been sitting next to the sedated girl.

"Look at this." The doctor pointed to several broken bones. "These are three days hold, but they're already healing at an impossibly fast rate. And this." He pointed to a picture of his pelvic bone. "See the tissue tearing here and here?" He pointed to a few places. "I'd say she was raped by two or more males."

Steve turned white while Natasha fought back tears of fury. She glanced behind her and saw the girl was still sound asleep.

"Natasha," spoke up Clint, coming out of the cockpit, where he had set the jet on autopilot. "I found these in her cell."

The Russian spy took the three items and held them.

A ratty stuffed bear who was missing a button eyes and had patches decorating it's once plush fur.

An abused book of fairy tales.

And a gold locket with an emerald in the center.

"Maybe she was kidnapped?" suggested Steve as Bruce did a blood test.

"I won't know anything until I run these tests," muttered the doctor, breathing heavily through his nose before going into the lab to do the tests.

Meanwhile, Natasha had sat down next to the sleeping girl, giving her the bear to cuddle with and opening the book of fairy tales and reading to her.

"An escape from reality," she murmured softly, thinking back to her days as a little girl living in Russia before returning to the book.

~xoXox~

"Natasha."

The redhead agent looked up as Steve caught up to her as she exited the plane. She looked up and saw tat he was holding a thick file.

"I grabbed this before I left the library- everything was burnt except for this," he explained, holding it out for her to take and flip through.

"Oh God…" she whispered, looking through detailed notes of what experiments were done to the girl, who was in a medicine induced coma so that when they arrived at Avenger tower in fifteen minutes, she wouldn't panic and create a mess that needed to be cleaned up. There were even pictures and a DVD disk, which she made a mental note to watch later.

Natasha refused to be parted from the girl, who was wheeled Dr. Banner, still wrapped in Thor's cape. Dr. Banner barked orders to the other medics as he made his way towards the miniature hospital that Avenger tower had equipped for all kinds of emergencies. She stayed with her as Bruce had her go though several MRI and CAT scans, took X-rays and equipped her with IVs and diagnosed her with severe malnutrition and possibly PTSD.

"I won't know anything for certain until she wakes up in thirty six hours," he told Natasha, who had offered the use of the suites next to hers for the girl to recover in.

"That sounds like a short time for her to be out," commented the Russian redhead as Tony came into the hospital room with his assistant, Pepper Potts.

"Well?" he asked her desperately.

"I'd say she's a size small, size zero, in everything," she muttered, peeling back the cape to see the girl's body better. "Even that might be too big for her…" She straightened up and turned to face Natasha. "Well, it's a start- better than nothing, if I'd say so," muttered Pepper, taking her clipboard with the girl's measurements with her as she led her billionaire boyfriend out of the hospital room to go do some online shopping for the newest arrival.

"She doesn't seem to have a name- she is always referred to as being 'the most prominent experiment'," scowled Natasha, looking through the files that Steve had received.

"How sick," muttered Dr. Banner before beginning to chart her heart rate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

I woke up groggily. I got out of bed and fell. Alarms began to ring as I was picked up and placed back into bed. I could hear a woman calming me with kind words.

But what was kindness?

I blinked the sleep from my eyes and slowly sat up with my head spinning to examine my surroundings.

I was in a room that had walls of a light grey color, wood floors and nice furniture. I didn't really see much of anything else because a man entered the room. He was stocky and of average height, but had a kind look on his face. I quickly hissed at him and jumped up, looking for a hiding place but settling for under the bed for right now.

"Dr. Who, do you mind?" he turned to a pretty blonde with brown eyes, who kissed his cheek before entering the room. She stayed her distance, talking with the redhead who gave me food. Once they were satisfied that I wasn't going to bolt, the blonde walked over to examine one of the monitors that I was hooked up to. "My name is Dr. Who; I am Dr. Banner's assistant." She introduced herself in a high pitched voice. I retreated from beneath the bed and sat on the floor, watching as she read over the file. "Now, can you speak?" she asked, pulling out a picture from a file and holding it up to my neck.

I made a series of sounds; coos, mewls, and hums, letting her know that I couldn't speak. I never learned how to.

"Okay, I don't suppose you ave a name?" she asked me, still looking at the monitors.

I shook my head sadly.

"Would you mind if we named you?" asked the redhead woman who I remembered from when I was rescued from that hellhole.

I shook my head.

"How about if we think of some names and have you choose one you like?" suggested the woman, keeping a safe distance so that I wouldn't feel crowded. I nodded again, wincing as the doctor accidently touched one of my healing scars.

"Sorry," she muttered, removing the stethoscope and putting it into a bag and taking out a needle and bottle of golden liquid. She saw the look on my face and told me it was to help my immune system, which was weak. I eventually gave her my arm, wincing as the needle went in. when the doctor took out the needle, a small trickle of gold blood leaked out of the tiny hole, but it closed right up.

"You can self heal… amazing…" muttered Dr. Who, going over to a file and flipping it open to read.

I looked at the redhead and made a croon of questioning.

"I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff," she introduced himself. I wondered if Dr. Who was only a medical doctor or did he dabble in another branch? And Natasha looked nice enough, and I trusted her, not because she was a female, but because she was nice and kind to me.

Suddenly, a loud ring went off and Natasha took out a high tech cell phone and answered it.

"_Ja_?" she asked. "Yes, she is awake. No, she cannot speak, but she makes sounds."

Apparently the person on the other line was not happy with her answer, because I could hear what he was saying as though he was in the room with me.

"What kind of shit did those monsters put her through?" growled the man on the other line.

_More than you would want to know._


	3. Chapter 3

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Over the next few days, Natasha came in with names for the girl to pick, only she turned the all down. Mary, Bella, Susan, Karen, Linda, Robin, Sheila.

Finally, one day as Natasha was reading a book of modern day fairy tales to her, the girl found a name she liked.

"Anna?" asked the assassin, rereading the name in the book. The girl nodded happily. "Anna. The name suits you."

The girl smiled brightly before returning to her beading. Natasha had brought in a few arts and crafts kits for her to do while she was away on business and she seemed to enjoy making jewelry the most.

"Anna," smiled Natasha before her cell phone went off.

"Black Widow," she answered.

"It's Bruce."

She looked over at Anna and made the hand motions that she would be outside if she needed anything. Anna hummed and bobbed her head before returning to her hobby.

"Get anything from the tests?" she asked in a low voice.

"Well, yes and no," he answered in a hesitant voice. "Do you think you can come down to the labs? We need to talk."

"Anna?" Natasha poked her head back into the room. "I need to go talk to Dr. Who's boss real quick, but I will be back, okay?"

Anna nodded her head and pointed to the book eagerly.

"Of course I'll read to you when I return," smiled the deadly Russian assassin before closing the door and jogging towards the medical facilities to talk with the doctor.

"Bruce? Is there something wrong with Anna?" asked the protective mother figure, rushing into the lab and almost bumping into an intern.

"Anna?" asked Bruce, looking up from a microscope.

"It's a name she likes," explained Natasha, picking up a file and flipping through it.

What she found made her blood chill.

"It appears that Anna has an accelerated healing factor which made her an easy experiment for those pigs," began Dr. Banner. "The photos in the file show her being beaten, tortured and raped."

"I wish one of those scumbags were still alive," muttered Natasha darkly, slamming the folder onto the table.

"What else is of interest are these pages," pointed out Bruce, turning to them. "In one 'experiment', a male with STDs forced her to have sex- they documented the entire thing. However, her blood and urine tests after show that she is clean of any kind of disease."

Natasha swore in Russian.

"And also they wanted her to reproduce," whispered Bruce quietly. "The natural way."

That was all it took for the Russian redhead to explode and loose her temper.

~xoXox~

Anna was curious as to what the head doctor had to say, so she snuck out of her room and followed Natasha. She hid herself behind a corner where she could hear everything between the two.

She jumped as Natasha slammed the folder onto the table, still very skittish around loud noises.

And then it happened. Natasha got angry.

She started yelling in Russian and looked like she was going to kill someone.

Anna got scared.

She stood and ran, dropping her teddy in her haste to protect herself.

She ran through the confusing twisting hallways, her lungs never feeling on fire, thanks to her stamina that she had been forced to earn through operations and training, her eyes wide with fear. She barreled into someone and panicked momentarily.

"Calm down there, young one," rumbled the man who wore strange clothes and wore his blonde hair long, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Anna whimpered before ducking under his legs and running again, this time, finding herself back at the medical lab.

The Hulk's roar was heard then, making Anna jump up into the air.

"What the hell- _**WE NEED BACKUP!**_" bellowed Natasha, making Anna poke her head into the medical lab. Things began to shake around her and she squeaked and held onto the wall cape for stability as the earthquake hit, making her fall.

"What is going on here?" shouted someone.

"Anna! Get back!" shouted Natasha as the Hulk roared again, this time jumping out of the blown open window to attack a man in even stranger armor than what Thor wore. The man held up a strange colored crystal, which he used to shrink the Hulk back into human size and knock him out before letting him fall.

She whimpered again, this time allowing her wings to tear her shirt apart so that she couldn't fall. Anna dove out of the widow, folding up her wings tight to her body so that way she could catch up to the falling man. She caught up to him and caught him a few floors before he could crash, and set him down carefully.

Suddenly, a funny tingling took over her body, making her giggle, a strange sound to her. She spun around and shot back up into the air, seeing the man with the strange crystal had aimed his beam at her and looked confused.

"It should work on you, little human," he spat, making the word human sound dirty.

Anna only opened her mouth and emitted a loud half squeal, half chirp sound that made the crystal explode in his face. With a loud cry of horror and shock, he fell from the sky into Thor's arms.

Anna turned and fled back inside, retreating her wings once she was back inside her bedroom and hiding inside the closet.

**I felt as though it was time for a little action. Is Anna too much like a Mary Sue? Please let me know if she is.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Anna hid in the closet until she was certain that everyone was in bed sound asleep, or so she hoped. She snuck out of her room, on the hunt of her dropped teddy. She hid skillfully whenever she heard people coming her way, pressing herself to the wall until they passed.

She reached the labs and pulled on the doors, only to find that they were locked. She slammed her fist up against the door in frustration. She wanted her teddy now!

She suddenly thought back to something that she heard one of the white coats talking about. If she had a piece of wire…

She looked around and found a dropped piece of electricity wire and excitedly jammed it into the lock.

The second the wire was in, sirens began to scream. She yelped and jumped up into the air, unfurling her wings as she catapulted into the air, her hands pressed to her ears in pain.

"Anna!"

She looked down and saw Dr. Banner, dressed in sweatpants and wearing an oversized shirt. She realized that the alarms had been turned off and lowered herself to the floor.

"I believe this little fella belongs to you?" he asked, handing over her teddy, which she snatched and held close to her body.

The pounding of footsteps made her hide behind Dr. Banner, peeking out as several agents rounded the corner with guns held high.

"Doctor," acknowledged the head of the gun men.

"It's okay, false alarm," announced Bruce, his hand on Anna's head. "Anna was looking for something."

"Anna?" asked another man.

In response, she poked her head out from behind Dr. Banner's back and made teddy wave awkwardly at them.

"Oh. Sorry doctor- come on men, back to bed," muttered the head agent, turning and herding the gun men towards another part of the tower.

"Well, at least we know that the alarms work," chuckled Bruce. "Anna, thank you, for today."

Anna just looked up at him with giant Bambi eyes and made a humming sound. A few seconds later, the stomach roared out in hunger.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat, okay? You missed out on dinner." The doctor held out a hand, and to his surprise, Anna gave him an arm of her teddy to hold while she held onto the other arm.

Once they were in the mess hall, the doctor went off to get Anna her favorite- plain oatmeal with berries and spices. No one could get her to eat anything else, no matter how hard they tried.

The doctor watched as Anna dug into her meal, ignoring the spoon that he had bought, instead slurping from her bowl like a little savage.

"Anna?" asked Dr. Banner after a few moments. "Why don't you talk? The CAT scans of your throat don't show any damage and you can make sounds."

Anna looked at him and hummed sadly.

"I have a theory, but it may be confusing for you," he informed her. Anna just sent him a look that clearly said, _try me_. "The traumas silenced you."

Anna looked at him and touched his hand.

_No they didn't._

It took him only a moment to realize the voice inside his head was Anna's.

**Bruce Banner and Anna! How sweet, don't you think? I had to include Teddy, just because!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Four and a half months later, Anna could be found in Tony's music room, fiddling around with the many musical insterments. Why he had a music room, no one knew- the man was beyond tone deaf. She spent most of the morning in the music room, teaching herself to play the grand piano. Something that the team quickly picked up on was that Anna was an incredibly fast learner when she put her mind to anything. She could already read and write in four languages (English, Russian, French and Spanish), knew ASL, and was honing her skills with her powers. She was slowly beginning to trust other members of the Avengers, but she still preferred being around Natasha and Dr. Emily Who. And to think she's been living at Avenger tower for a little more than a quarter of a year.

Tony was searching for the princess of the tower (his nickname for Anna) when he suddenly heard his least favorite song by Beethoven coming from the music room that he was planning on converting into another office.

He changed his course and went up the winding staircase that led up to the music room and halted at the sight before him.

Anna, who was in a white dress and barefoot, was playing one of his least favorite songs. But when she played it, the song sounded beautiful and childlike. She hummed along as she played, her long, slender fingers dancing like ballerinas over the ivory and ebony keys. Her waist length black curls were held out of her emerald green eyes by a complicated crown of braids, her pale skin was flushed a pretty shade of pink, and her still-too-skinny-to-be-healthy body was slaying as she played the piano.

She finished the song in perfect key and smiled, turning to her teddy, which was sitting next to her on the bench. She brought the ragged toy up to touch noses and giggled softly.

"Anna," called out the billionaire, entering the room slowly so that he didn't scare Anna. She was still getting used to Thor, Steve and him and he didn't want to screw up the progress that they'd made.

Anna smiled shyly at him as he approached her slowly, his hands behind his back.

"You know how you were talking about want a kitty?" he asked, referring to one of her many ramblings that she would go into while signing. Anna nodded and just about fell over when he showed her two little kittens, both black and with white bibs and socks. "For you," he said, eyes twinkling as she carefully took the kittens into her arms and smiled down at them.

Anna smiled at Tony before launching herself at him. He barely had time to stop himself from tumbling over at her sudden impact as she squeezed him. The kittens jumped down from the embrace and began to tumble on the carpeted floor.

"What will you name them?" asked Tony watching as the two kittens rolled over each other.

_Buttons and Ribbons_, answered Anna within a heartbeat before turning to collect the sheet music that she found in the compartment under the bench, her teddy and notebook and matching pen. She whistled softly and the two kittens bounded towards her as she left the music room to go put her things away.

Tony smiled as he shook his head at the slowly blossoming young girl. She was something else.

~xoXox~

It was a month before Christmas and Anna could often be found prowling the halls of the tower, her curiosity and bravery getting stronger with each passing day. She found most of the offices, the mess hall, the kitchens (where she made friends with the gruff head cook) and the Avenger's bedrooms.

One day, she was exploring the rooms below the basement levels, with Buttons and Ribbons following closely behind their mistress, when she stumbled across a gym that looked like something out of the fifties. She stepped inside hesitantly, looking around to see if anyone was inside before going out to one of the punching bags. She knew what they were- she trained with them a few times before the white jackets had her use concrete slabs to break using various parts of her body.

She took a deep breath before striking out with her fists.


	6. Chapter 6

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Captain Steve Rogers entered his gym and paused when he heard grunting and the creaking of a punching bag. He looked and saw that the person was behind the bag, preventing him from seeing who was beating the living crap out of one of his bags.

Suddenly, the bag went flying as the chain broke. Steve barely had enough time to move before the bag crashed into the wall behind him. He looked up at Anna with shock written all over his face. She looked shocked and a bit scared as she scuttled into a corner of the room and slid down into a ball. Her kittens were playing hide and seek

"Anna?" the super solider asked quietly, slowly approaching her. He squatted down in front of her and touched her shoulder, making her flinch back in fear. "Anna, look at me." The scared girl opened her emerald green eyes and looked at the muscular man who was kneeling in front of her. "I swear that I will never, ever hurt you. I promise," he told her in a quiet voice.

Anna looked at him before crawling over to him and wrapping her arms around him. Steve froze for only a moment before also wrapping his arms around her.

_I would train every day. If I broke a bag, they would hurt me_, Anna told Steve with sign language. Steve felt a surge of protectiveness course through his veins as Anna fed him images of what she went through. She finally broke away, sitting on her heels as she looked up at him and then to the bag and back again.

"Do you want me to teach you self defense?" Steve asked her, understanding what she was asking. Anna nodded eagerly, her black corkscrew curls bouncing as she smiled up at the World War II vet. Steve stood and reached down to help up the young girl, who hesitated before taking his hand and popping herself up. "First, can I see what all you can do?"

Anna nodded before doing several acrobatic tricks that made his head spin. She stopped and smiled at him, letting him know that he gymnastics show was over.

"Very nice," he told her before grabbing a fresh punching bag from the pile he had. "You punch like this," he told her, demonstrating how she landed a hit. "But this is the proper way."

They worked hard for four hours, Steve helping Anna to learn how to defend herself should her ever need to (he prayed that she would never need to do so ever again) and corrected her mistakes that she picked up while living in tat hell hole.

He returned from the changing rooms to find Anna passed out, her head leaning against the wall as she slowly slid off the bench. Steve barely managed to catch her before she fell onto the floor and carried her from the basement gym up to her room located on the twenty sixth floor.

He took the stairs while thinking to himself, _Anna's quite the character_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna, Samantha and Rebekka.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

It was in December that Anna started to experience nightmares. She would wake up gasping and crying as Natasha and Dr. Who would try to comfort her. So she took to wandering the halls in order to keep the nightmares away. Besides, she rarely slept when she was in that hellhole anyways.

One night, she was in the training room, going over what Steve had taught her about self defense when she noticed Buttons and Ribbons bounding off towards someone. There were only a few men that the kittens like, and three of them happened to be Tony, Clint and Steve. Tony always went to bed early, so that left only the archer and the super solider.

Anna cocked her head and listened. Hearing nothing, she returned to attacking the punching bag, only stopping when she felt eyes on her. She turned her head and saw Steve Rogers was standing in the doorway with a duffle bag over one shoulder.

"Looking good," he praised her, dropping his bag in a corner of the room and coming over slowly to watch her techniques.

Anna stopped hitting the bag and reached for Steve's hand. _Can't sleep?_ Anna signed to him, showing him images of Natasha napping.

"Not really," he answered, a bit unnerved by her telepathic abilities. He would never admit it, but he wouldn't want to get onto her bad side and end up fighting her. He knew that she would beat him, probably because he could never hit a girl.

Or in Anna's case, a young woman.

As Steve joined Anna in beating the boxing bags, his mind switched over to figting mode. He was in the year 1941 again, fighting Nazis.

Suddenly, Steve's fist collided with the bag, sending it sailing from the chain and hitting the wall before sliding down to the floor.

A loud whimper made Steve turn. Anna was crouching behind the bench as she watched him with wary eyes.

"Anna?" he asked her softly, approaching slowly so that she wouldn't rabbit off again. She stayed behind the bench, watching as he came closer. "I'm sorry- I just keep forgetting to reign in my punch." He finally was next to her, and reached out to touch her. "Anna, please understand that I would never, ever, hurt you. On purpose or accidently," he whispered softly.

Anna only reached up and cupped his cheek, sending a staggering wave of thoughts and memories into his mind.

_ They would force me to execute people in various ways._

_ Beheading._

_ Hanging._

_ Suffocation._

_ Fighting._

_ Beatings._

_ Stabbings._

_ And if I didn't do it, the white jackets would hurt me._

Anna recoiled back, tears stinging at her eyes as she looked up at Steve, struggling not to cry. The super solider was shocked and angered at what they had forced her into.

"Anna," Steve murmured, wiping a tear with his callused thumb, cupping her fragile face in his other hand. "As long as I'm here, no one will ever hurt you. Do you understand?"

Anna nodded before throwing herself at the World War II solider, sniffling as he held her close to his chest. Anna sighed with contempt before being lulled to sleep by Steve's heartbeat, her tiny hands clutching at his shirt.

Anna refused to let go of Steve when he reached her bedroom. He didn't want to go inside for fear of starting rumors. He had no idea how Tony and Pepper managed…

Finally, he decided to walk around the tower with Anna in his arms, hoping that she would let go enough for him to get her to bed. But he ended up spending the night with her cuddled in his arms, her face in his chest, breathing deeply. Every now and then, he could see her dreams- usually, she was curled up in an armchair reading next to a blazing fireplace, Buttons and Ribbons sound asleep on the rug that was next to the chair. Steve smiled at the sweet dreams that Anna was having- she didn't seem to have a nightmare that night.

Finally, Steve dragged himself to his room at three AM, tired from walking around with Anna in his arms. Despite the fact that she was lighter than a pound of feathers, his arms were cramped from being in the same position for hours.

He got into his bed with Anna still attached to him, smiling when she rolled over and snuggled into him, sighing as her nose nuzzled his neck.

The last thing Steve was aware of was Anna, with her arms wrapped around him, smiling as she slept next to him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Steve and Anna got cozy with one another during the month of November, and they could often be found in the gym or watching movies together. No one seemed to mind their friendship.

When Anna warmed up to Steve, she warmed up to most of the men of SHIELD. She could be found learning to shot a bow with Clint, training with Thor on how to wield a blade, or being spoiled by Tony. But still Anna enjoyed being around Natasha and Dr. Who, having her hair braided and being read to.

Anna was changing slowly with each passing day. Her trust in the men of the Avenger team was budging; she went from squeaking in terror and hidind behind Natasha to smiling shyly and ducking her head to avoid eye contact. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

But what no one could wrap their head around was how Anna never had a Christmas.

"I mean, seriously, how sick were those bastards to deny her Christmas?" Tony complained a few nights before the Christmas gala that he held every year.

"Sick enough that I wished one of those son-of-a-bitches survives so that I could torture them," growled Natasha, who had Anna asleep on her lap. The team had been thinking of ways to introduce the girl to the holiday without scaring her. They had all agreed on having her watch the party from one of the private balconies that surrounded the ballroom, having her join in with decorating the tower and ice skating at Central Park.

"She looks so innocent," piped up Pepper, entering the room. She carried her clipboard, which she then used to thunk Tony upside the head with.

"Ow, was that really necessary?" he whined, rubbing his head.

"You forgot taking her to church and presents," she reminded her boyfriend and boss, shaking her head as she sat next to him.

"I knew I was forgetting something!" the multi billionaire muttered. "Thank you, Pepper." He turned to the team. "So what does everyone want?"

~xoXox~

Anna was bundled up snuggly warm in a jacket, mittens and a scarf as she trailed behind Natasha as they shopped for Christmas presents. The girl was smiling as her boots crunched on the snow covered sidewalk. She had already helped Natasha choose out gifts for the team and they were now poking around to see what she could get.

In a military shop, she found a replica World War II record of (then) popular music of a perfect for Steve. She found Clint a new leather quiver in an archer's shop and ducked out to buy Natasha a book of Russian poetry and fairy tales. For Dr. Emily Who, she discovered a book on Native American medicine of the past and immediately bought it for the doctor. For Tony, she found a complex book of motors and machinery at a Barnes and Nobles. For Bruce, she got her a book on Zen meditation and for Fury, she discovered a black leather eyepatch, much like the one he had, only with a more comfy band. For Thor, she had trouble finding something that the Norse god could use on both Earth and Asgard until she found a little hobby shop with a book of fairy tales written in Norse.

Natasha noticed Anna smiling as she hustled her packages together while they walked back to the tower.

The following week was filled with decorating the tower and sneaking presents under the tree. Anna had a blast with decking the place up for the Christmas season; she used her wings to help her get to high places and to hang mistletoe in unsuspecting places. She even held a piece of the green horror over Natasha and Clint, staying well out of their reach when they gave in and kissed each other.

Thor and Tony went out and came back with several giant trees, which went in every hallway and in every room that was big enough to hold one (including Fury's office, where the one eyes man found Anna happily decking the tree while listening to cheery Christmas music. He just couldn't find it in himself to get mad at her.)

The director found himself getting into the spirit of Christmas, helping Anna decorate and sneaking his own stash of presents under the huge tree in the game room. JARVIS was quickly forced to play Christmas music whenever people said certain words (eggnog, tree, gift, etc.) and Tony was kept hopping mad trying to fit the electronic butler.

Needless to say, Anna was having a really good time- she pushed her fears aside and was enjoying being a little kid, running around the tower, sock skating on the freshly waxed floors, and sliding down banisters. She still didn't speak, but she did make little sounds and laugh.

Everything was going according to plan.

Until Loki crashed the party.


	9. Chapter 9

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Anna snuggled into her bed with a smile on her face. It was Christmas Eve and she had been given very clear instructions by Tony that she was to go to bed early and not come out of her room until six AM the following morning.

At one AM, Anna woke up with a soundless gasp. She bolted up n bed, panting hard as she ran a hand through her messy black locks before getting out of bed to get a glass of water from the bathroom.

She heard something behind her as she was going back into her room. She gasped, dropping the glass as she spun around in a denfese stance like Steve taught her.

"Easy, Anna," chuckled Dr. Banner, frowning as he heard the crunch of glass underneath Anna's feet. He sighed as he motioned for her to follow him to the medical bay to treat her cuts. However, once they reached the lab, Anna's feet were healed, leaving the doctor with nothing to really do except talk to the slowly healing girl.

"What are you doing up, Anna?" asked the doctor kindly as he sat down in front of her in a chair.

Anna stretched out a dainty hand and rested it on his shoulder.

_I had a nightmare that woke me up. I couldn't fall back asleep_, her voice echoed inside the doctor's head.

"Do you want to tell me about the dream?" he asked her. She squeezed her eyes shut before touching the doctor once more.

Bruce had to pull away after a minute. The images were too horrible for him, and he knew that if she kept relaying her nightmare to him, then "the other guy" would come out and scare her back to the beginning of the team's hard progress.

"Anna, can I give you something to help you fall back asleep?" he asked her, smiling as she reached out to gaze him arm.

_Will I dream?_ Anna asked him.

"Not at all," he answered, handing her two little blue and pink pills and sighing as she bounded out of the lab. Of all the Avengers, Anna had affected Dr. Banner the most, reminding him why he had gone through med school.

The next thing Anna knew was that someone was gently shaking her awake. She drowsily opened her eyes and saw that it was Natasha.

"Tony's acting like a little kid in a candy store; better get up so that we can open our presents," she chuckled as Anna rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Anna trekked next to the redheaded Russian as they made their way towards the game room, where the biggest tree and all the presents were located. The night before, Anna hung an oversized sock on the fireplace, wondering where the other one was and why they were doing this. Now she knew.

The stockings were bursting with candy and other treats as Steve lifted her up so that she could get her stocking down. Anna's stocking was filled with chocolate, two notebooks, pens and a small old fashioned teddy bear. Anna hugged the stuffed bear to her chest as she watched Tony handing out presents with certain gusto. To Anna's surprise, she even had a stack, though hers was much bigger than everyone else's.

Anna slowly opened her first present for Director Fury, which turned out to be a new embroidery hoop, needles and threads. She smiled at the gruff man, who chuckled upon opening his present from her. From Clint, she received her own bow and quiver of arrows, which made her run over and tackle the archer in a hug. Clint grunted in embarrassment and patted her back, his eyes crinkling up in delight over her new quiver. From Natasha she received a colorful collection of dresses. The assassin sighed over the book of poetry and fairy tales, thanking Anna multiple times. Dr. Emily Who had gotten Anna more beads in a riot of colors. The Native American woman chuckled when she unwrapped her present from Anna, thanking the young woman in her coulter's language. Thor had gotten Anna a shield with the Avenger's insigma on it; Thor tossed back his head and roared in delight over his book of Norse fairy tales. From Bruce, she received a charm bracelet with all the Avenger's trademarks for charms. The doctor chuckled over his little book of Zen meditations. And tony was the one person who had gotten Anna so many presents.

"Honestly, you're spoiling her!" scolded Pepper, leaning over to swat at his head with her new clipboard from Anna.

Anna smiled up at them before noticing there was one more present underneath the tree. She wriggled herself underneath the branched and came back up with a small box, with was to her from Steve. She opened the box and smiled at what was inside.

But before she could thank Steve, the alarms went off.

"It's Loki again," announced Fury in a grim voice half a minute later, walkig back into the room from answering his cell phone. "He's wrecking havoc near the zoo."


	10. Chapter 10

**Broken Wings**

**I only own Anna.**

**SUMMARY:**

**When the Avengers are dispatched to Ireland on a rescue mission, they only find one surviving victim- an abused girl with powerful gifts. Untrusting, mute and scarred, this young child somehow worms her way into everyone's hearts. What happens when Fury decides to have her join the team?**

Anna watched as Natasha and Clint both fired off shots at the Norse god, whose armor protected him. Anna smirked as she unfurled her wings and flew up to him, glaring as she distracted him long enough for Thor to tackle him and slam his head into the steel skeleton of the new tiger encloser. Anna spied something that the god of mischief had been using to cause the chaos and swooped in on it, grabbing the staff and twirling up out of reach.

She examined the staff with a critical eye before calling out to Steve with her mind.

"I'm coming, Anna," he answered, his voice sounding tinny as though he were facing the raging wind. Anna knew that he was riding his motorcycle to the site.

Anna was interrupted midthought by Loki, who jumped and grabbed her ankles, surprising er so much that she opened her mouth and screeched loudly, causing for blood to come pouring out of his ears.

She turned her blue eyes onto his green eyes and hissed before taking to the skies, leaving him to only hold on in fear.

_Like the view_? Anna asked him sarcastically as she spied a green monster below her. _Because it's about to get even better_.

Loki yelped as she folded her wings and dropped, her arms crossed over her chest as she shut her eyes. She knew that without his staff, the god was powerless to do anything. She landed in the Hulk's arms while Loki did an undignified face plant into the pavement.

The Hulk grabbed the god by the scruff of his neck and brought them face to face and roared loudly, causing for Loki to start blubbering out for mercy.

Anna rolled her eyes as the rest of the team gathered in, all praising her for her quick actions. Anna didn't flinch as Thor's loud voice boomed or as Clint placed a protected hand on her shoulder as civilians began to step out of hiding.

"You're coming with us," declared Natasha as Anna shyly ducked her head so that her long black curls covered her face as the team frog marched the villain to a secured van and tossed him in. Anna claimed shotgun while Clint drove. Natasha and Thor were in the back with Loki to ensure he didn't do anything stupid.

Anna leaned back in her seat as she watched the scenery blur past them. She trusted lint with her heart, but there were times when she thought her should at least slow down when he drove.

"What's her story?"

She was jerked from her thoughts once more by Loki. She turned in her seat and saw he was looking at her, his pale green eyes hard as flint.

"Cork it," barked Natasha, her hands inching for her guns.

Anna sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped over the seat to land next to Loki. She touched his hand and asked, "_What all do you want to know?_"

"How did you come to be a part of this…" he searched for a word, but was interrupted once more by Anna's touch.

He flinched as her haunted memories flooded his mind- he was first to break away, after the memory of Natasha and the other Avengers rescuing her form Ireland.

"Anna…" warned Natasha flatly as the Norse god reached for her small locket.

"May I?" he asked her softly and she removed it and handed it to him. He locked at the locket stunned before pressing it into a dent in his armor that turned out to be a key.

The holographic video of a woman appeared. She looked just like Anna except that her hair was strawberry blonde.

"They're here," she gasped before the feed went dead.

"I gave this to your mother to record her thoughts with," murmured Loki softly, reaching out to tuck a strand of Anna's black curls behind her ear but froze as she flinched back and leaned into Natasha's side.

"What are you saying, brother?" rumbled Thor, looking his adopted brother in the eye.

"I have reasosn to believe that Anna is my daughter-"

Loki was cut off by the car screeching to a half and the back doors opening to reveal a swarm of agents. Anna got out last and walked up to Loki, whose eyes never left her face.

She looked him in the eye.

And then she slapped him with enough force to break his nose before running off with tears running down her face.


End file.
